A cultural programme for everyone: in the streets, at major venues, for adult audiences, families, spectators with more particular tastes, and general fans of the arts and entertainment. All this is on offer in this year's edition of the TEMUDAS Festival, the International Festival of Theatre, Music and Dance of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The festival's 28th edition will take place as the city gears up for a unique and exciting summer season.

This year, the TEMUDAS Festival programme is reinventing itself once again, on its way to three decades of history in the capital of Gran Canaria. The festival first began in 1996, with the fundamental aim of "recovering theatrical traditions, consolidating a consistent cultural programme, and placing theatre, music and dance on a par with other activities taking place in the city". At that time, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria was entering the new century with a commitment to reshaping its performing arts programme using new methods of artistic promotion, leveraging its identity as a city on the Atlantic with a long and important cultural tradition.

A festival with history

The first TEMUDAS Festival was held in autumn at the emblematic Pérez Galdós Theatre, the same stage which throughout the 20th century received countless great artists on their way between Europe and the Americas, and where generally more classical forms of theatre, music and even opera were on offer. Over time, the Pérez Galdós Theatre has come to welcome more diverse and avant-garde performances, thanks in part to the festival.

The Theatre's closing in 2001 for subsequent renovations brought the TEMUDAS Festival outdoors to Santa Catalina Park, moving the programme to the summer months of July and August. The festival thus acquired greater visibility at a time of year favourable for outdoor performances, adding to the cultural offering for the many visitors the city receives as a thriving urban tourist destination.

Since 2012, performances have been staged at emblematic places in the city's streets and at its most iconic theatres, featuring a programme that includes important artists and performers from the national scene in Spain, as well as an increasing number of local companies, embracing more modern and inventive trends in urban performing arts. This year the event is rebranded as TEMUDAS: the International Festival of Theatre, Music and Dance of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

An urban festival

TEMUDAS is, above all, an urban festival, one that is celebrated in the streets, bringing the performing arts to new audiences. It aims to serve not only the most passionate aficionados of the performing arts, but also the general public.

The 2024 TEMUDAS Festival

In 2024, the event reaffirms this aim, taking its programme to the various city neighbourhoods, with 57 performances scheduled from 4 to 21 July, featuring three international companies, eighteen Spanish companies, and eight from the Canary Islands.

The festival's usual venues, such as the Plaza de Santa Ana in the heart of the historic district of Vegueta, the Plaza de la Música at the end of Las Canteras Beach, and the Guiniguada Theatre, will share the programme with large open spaces, such as Doramas Park in the city centre, Juan Pablo II Park in the Siete Palmas neighbourhood, and Tamaraceite Sur Park. Other city landmarks to host this year's events include the Sala Gabriel Rodó, the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium, Don Benito Park (in the Schamann neighbourhood, where the streets are named to honour the works of famed Spanish writer Benito Pérez Galdós, who was born in Las Palmas), and even the container terminal in the Port of Las Palmas.

The Port warrants special mention, where containers from the shipping company Boluda will be used to construct a stage which will host the Philharmonic Orchestra of Gran Canaria in a concert unlike any other in Europe, to take place on Saturday 13 July at 22:00. The Municipal Symphonic Band of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is also featured in the programme, with a concert titled "From opera to jazz", scheduled for Sunday 7 July at 12:00, at Sala Gabriel Rodó.

A festival for travellers too

Visitors to the city can enjoy a wide range of venues and performances for all kinds of audiences: from the inaugural "La increíble historia de la ciudad al revés" (The incredible history of the city in reverse) by El Gato Engrifao in the Plaza de Santa Ana on 4 July (21:00), the gestural and object manipulation piece titled "Bajau" by Ponten Pie in the Guiniguada Theatre (5 and 6 July, several performances), or the street theatre of "The Whale Street" by Compagnie CPPP in the Plaza de la Música (5 and 6 July, 22:00), as well as the various dance performances included in the festival's agenda, such as "Sylphies" by Sylphies Aereal Ballet, scheduled for Saturday 20 July in the Plaza de Santa Ana.

Special shows such as "Lorca sonoro" by Pasión Vega (12 July in the Plaza de la Música at 22:00) and a range of clown shows, gestural humour, comedy, family theatre, magic, and even stilt walkers complete the ambitious 2024 TEMUDAS Festival lineup.

For more information and tickets

Much of the programme is free and open to the public, but if you want to enjoy the best of this iconic festival, check the schedules and confirm information on prices and tickets (which go fast!) on the official cultural website of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: lpacultura.com. You can also find more information on the festival's official website: temudasfest.com.